DENMARK
US diplomat summoned
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen summoned the top US diplomat in the country for talks after the main national broadcaster yesterday reported that at least three people with connections to US President Donald Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory in the arctic that is coveted by Trump. Public broadcaster DR reported that government and security sources, which it did not name, as well as unidentified sources in Greenland and the US, believe that at least three Americans with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in the territory. It said its story was based on information from eight sources who believe the goal is to weaken relations with Denmark from within Greenlandic society.
Photo: Ritzau Scanpix / Ida Marie Odgaard / via Reuters
JAPAN
Warlord statue beheaded
A statue of a powerful 16th-century warlord and samurai outside a shopping arcade has been beheaded, a shop official and media reports said yesterday. The statue is of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who completed the unification of Japan in the 16th century, and is also known for his failed attempts to invade the Korean Peninsula. The association of the Endoji shopping arcade in Nagoya regards the statue as a symbolic figure of the mall, and “is considering filing a damage report with police,” a member said. There was no information about who damaged the statue for what reasons, he added. The vandalism came after similar damages to other warlord sculptures outside the same shopping arcade in central Japan that were reportedly donated by a real-estate company in 2013.
UNITED STATES
SpaceX launches Starship
Space Technologies Corp (SpaceX) on Tuesday night launched the latest test of its mega rocket Starship and completed the first-ever deployment of a test payload — eight dummy satellites — into space. After just more than an hour coasting through space, Starship splashed down as planned in the Indian Ocean, following its launch just after 6:30pm from SpaceX’s launch site in south Texas. It was the 10th test for the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, which SpaceX and NASA hope to use to get astronauts back on the moon. NASA has ordered two Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s ultimate goal is Mars. No crew members were aboard.
TURKEY
Official outs self for speeding
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu has been slapped with a speeding fine after posting a video of himself racing down a highway with the hashtag #TurkeyAccelerates. On Sunday evening, Uraloglu posted a video of himself on X driving along a highway near the capital, Ankara, listening to folk songs and clips of speeches by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In several separate shots that inadvertently show the speedometer, he can be seen clocking up speeds of 190kph to 225kph. The speed limit on that highway is 140kph. Several hours later, Uraloglu reposted the footage, admitting he had been fined for breaking the speed limit, saying that in posting the video he had effectively dropped himself in it. “I took to the wheel to check the Ankara-Nigde highway and unintentionally exceeded the speed limit for a short period. With the video I effectively denounced myself,” he wrote. The penalty notice, a copy of which he posted, showed he had been driving at 225kph and fined 9,267 lira (US$226).
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
A Japanese city would urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties. The limit — which would be recommended for all residents in Toyoake City — would not be binding and there would be no penalties incurred for higher usage, the draft ordinance showed. The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues... including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said yesterday. The draft urges elementary-school students to avoid smartphones after 9pm, and junior-high students and older are advised not
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) attended a grand ceremony in Lhasa yesterday during a rare visit to Tibet, where he urged “ethnic unity and religious harmony” in a region where China is accused of human rights abuses. The vast high-altitude area on the country’s western edge, established as an autonomous region in 1965 — six years after the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile — was once a hotbed for protest against Chinese Communist Party rule. Rights groups accuse Beijing’s leaders of suppressing Tibetan culture and imposing massive surveillance, although authorities claim their policies have fostered stability and rapid economic development in
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